We are now in Mark 14:39. Jesus has gone off to pray twice; and he has gone back to rebuke Peter, James, and John, twice, for sleeping while they waited for him. Now he does the same sequence a third time.I have been impressed by the number of times three has cropped up in this story. We have three disciples dozing while waiting for Jesus. Three times Jesus prays. Three times he goes back to the three disciples to rebuke them. What are the odds more threes will occur in this story?
The third time Jesus rebukes the three, he also announces his betrayer is coming. So, somewhere in between the twelve arriving at the garden and this moment, Judas must have left. Judas now appears with what can be described as a mob, sent by the chief priests, teachers of the law, and the elders. (Three authority figures) These people are not said to be Roman soldiers. Remember, this is the night of Passover, a religious holy day. This should not have been happening. Back in 14:2, the chief priests said they didn't want to arrest Jesus during the Feast for fear of a riot. The feast of unleavened bread lasted a whole week. In the context of the story, it appears to be only the second day of the feast, Jewish time.
Judas had arranged a signal to show the armed crowd who to capture. He went to Jesus, called him rabbi, and gave him a kiss. He was immediately arrested. Someone standing nearby cut off the ear of the chief priest's servant with a sword. The text does not name that person. It also does not say Jesus stuck the ear back on and miraculously healed it. Jesus verbally protests the necessity of the arrest, but says "the scripture must be fulfilled." Everyone deserted Jesus and ran away. Jesus was only with three other people at the time, unless all the other disciples decided to come see what the commotion was.
Next, an odd incident is included in the story, telling us that a young man, basically only dressed in his underwear or night clothes, tried to run off but was grabbed by the flimsy garment. He escaped by leaving the garment behind, in other words, buck naked. Since this seems such a non-sequitur, many bible readers through the ages have decided the purpose for including this story must be because the young man was the author, AKA Mark. There is no actual reason to believe this other than speculation.
They crowd took Jesus to the Jewish authority figures who had gathered, on Passover night. Peter followed them at a distance, to the high priest's courtyard, and sat with the guards (not said to be Roman) by the fire. The whole Sanhedrin was there, on Passover night. They had a religious trial, in the middle of the night. Unbelievable. They needed two or more witnesses who could agree and give evidence to any religious crimes Jesus had supposedly committed that would justify putting him to death. They didn't get what they needed. Some testified that Jesus said he "would destroy this manmade temple and in three days build another, not made by man." However, no two testimonies agreeed. (Many Christians believe the Temple referred to was a metaphor for Jesus's body.) Jesus refused to answer the charges against himself, instead remaining silent.
Then the high priest asked Jesus if he was the christ, the son of the blessed one. Jesus replied, "I am." In the old testament "I am" is what god calls himself, this would mean Jesus was making himself Equal to god. If that wasn't enough, he goes on to imply that he will sit at the right hand of god and appear with him in the clouds when he comes. This was clearly blasphemy, punishable by death. Jesus was condemned to die, spat upon, blindfolded, and beaten.
No comments:
Post a Comment